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U.S. Sanctions Russia's Two Largest Oil Companies and Their Affiliates; Kindergarten Hit in Wave of Russian Strikes on Ukraine; Top U.N. Court Rebukes Israel Over Gaza Aid Restrictions; NYC Mayoral Candidates Spar in Final Debate; South Korea's Lee Jae-Myung to Welcome World Leaders to APEC Summit; South Korean President Weighs in on North Korea, Possible Trade Deal with U.S.; Louvre Museum Reopens to Tourists after Spectacular Theft. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired October 23, 2025 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[00:00:39]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. slapped new sanctions on Russia's biggest oil companies for Moscow's refusal to end its war in Ukraine. Plus, the latest on U.S. Military strikes on another alleged drug boat, this time in the Pacific. And Israel's aid blocked during the war in Gaza is facing major criticism from the world's top criminal court.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: As Russia launches new deadly strikes in Ukraine, the U.S. is hitting Moscow with new sanctions. It follows the cancellation of the upcoming Trump-Putin summit, which was expected to happen in Budapest in the coming weeks. The U.S. is demanding an immediate ceasefire and has announced sanctions that would target Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, and almost three dozen of their affiliates.

The U.S. Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, says, quote, "Treasury is prepared to take further action, if necessary, to support President Trump's effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions."

NATO secretary general, who was visiting the White House, is welcoming the administration's decision and says the U.S. president's leadership is crucial to negotiating with Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I have total confidence in President Trump, and he is the only one who can get this done and who has a clear vision on bringing this war to a durable and lasting end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN's Kristen Holmes is following developments and has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration seemingly reversing course when it comes to Russia issuing sanctions on two of Russia's top oil companies. Now, the reason why this is so notable is that this comes just days after we know President Trump spoke for two and a half hours with Vladimir Putin. They were scheduled to sit down in Hungary to have another one- on-one meeting. It also comes days after President Trump sat down with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. That one had a tense and at times uncomfortable, according to sources, meeting where President Trump said that he wouldn't be providing Zelenskyy with those Tomahawk missiles, those long range missiles to fire into Russia.

Here is what President Trump said about that Russian meeting or that sit down with Vladimir Putin.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It just -- it didn't feel right to me. It didn't feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I canceled it, but we'll do it in the future. In terms of honesty, the only thing I can say is every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations. And then they don't go anywhere. They just don't go anywhere.

HOLMES: Now, when it comes to sanctions, President Trump said that he thought it felt like it was time. He also said something we've heard him say before, which is that he believes that President Putin wants an end to this war, though he could not follow up on why he believes that Putin wants an end to this war. However, he did say that he has felt he had these conversations with Putin in the past where they have a very good conversation and then Putin doesn't do any of the things that he says he's going to do.

And that is in part why these sanctions were issued. The reason why this matters is we've been hearing him say a version of this for the last several months, and he always has flirted with the idea of these potential sanctions, but never actually gone through with it, always at the very end saying, well, they don't work or they aren't going to help us in a negotiation. Today was the first time we saw him actually pull the trigger and move forward with imposing these sanctions.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: The European Union has also agreed to another package of sanctions against Russia. In the coming hours E.U. leaders are set to meet in Brussels with Ukraine at the top of the agenda. The group is expected to focus on ways to step up support for Kyiv and increase pressure on Moscow.

Well, as its economy comes under pressure, Russia is flexing its military muscle. The country held drills to test its readiness of its nuclear forces on Wednesday. The drills involved the launches of nuclear capable missiles under the supervision of President Vladimir Putin. Russia says the drills were pre-planned. They came about a week after NATO held its own nuclear deterrence exercise in Europe.

[00:05:03]

Well, Ukraine is reeling from a wave of Russian strikes, including one on a kindergarten in Kharkiv. At least one person was killed and seven others injured after a Russian drone hit the school building on Wednesday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the children were evacuated to shelters. Ukrainian authorities say the strike was part of a larger barrage that killed at least five others across Ukraine, including a six-month-old baby.

For more, I want to welcome Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukraine's parliament, who joins us live from Kyiv.

Appreciate your time today.

INNA SOVSUN, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So it's been another deadly day across Ukraine, following those Russian attacks. Dozens of missiles, hundreds of drones, a kindergarten hit and sadly children among the dead. Just give us a sense of the mood in Ukraine right now. And what message is Moscow trying to send?

SOVSUN: Well, of course the night before has been rough for majority of the country. It was, of course, very difficult in Kharkiv with the kindergarten hit in the morning. But during the night itself, the Russians' continued attack on the energy infrastructure. The city of Chernihiv which is roughly one and a half hour north from Kyiv. They don't have electricity for a week now. And also in the city of Kyiv, we all experienced blackouts for up to 10 hours.

I myself didn't have electricity at home since 7:00 in the morning up until 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening, which is, of course, devastating on itself. It's very difficult to function when you don't have electricity. You can't make food. You can't -- you can't you know, get ready or anything without that. That's the way how it terrorizes civilian population as well, not just, not just attacking through the front lines.

KINKADE: Yes. We heard from the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, who said on Wednesday that President Trump is the only one who can open a dialogue with Vladimir Putin. From your perspective, do you agree with that?

SOVSUN: Maybe so. The question is how to open that dialogue, because for over half a year now, for nine months, we have been seeing President Trump making attempts to open the dialogue by telling Putin, basically just let's talk. And it doesn't work like that with Putin. Putin only understands the language of force. He can only be forced into doing something. He cannot simply ask to negotiate into that.

But unfortunately, we have seen, you know, for -- since the Alaska summit and then before that, President Trump is always trying to negotiate with Putin. And it doesn't work like that. He has been trying to pressure Ukraine instead of trying to pressure Russia. But it is for Russia a war of choice. We don't have a choice in this situation. We can only fight back.

So with the sanctions that have been introduced today, we very much hope that this will be a constant change in D.C. policy, that there will be no, you know, backstabs after that, as we have seen before. But of course that gives us optimism that this is finally something that we have been asking for since the very beginning of this administration.

KINKADE: Yes. I want to get your view on what you think the impact of this sanctions will be. U.S., of course, sanctioning Russia's two biggest oil companies. Do you think that that will actually change Putin's calculus?

SOVSUN: Well, not on itself. That is not -- that is not enough as a single step. That is why it will require further steps. Secondary sanctions for the countries that are buying Russian oil are critically important because, of course, the Russians have lost their European market to a very big extent. They're still selling to China. They're still selling to India. And making billions out of this. And by making billions, then they use that to make weapons to kill Ukrainians.

So the sanctions which have been introduced send a strong political message. Finally they will not themselves undermine Russia's ability to continue this war.

KINKADE: We've heard that Ukraine has increased its defense budget significantly. What else is needed right now as you head into a difficult winter? And why do you think Donald Trump denied Ukraine those Tomahawk missiles when he met with President Zelenskyy?

SOVSUN: Well, on the Tomahawks, frankly speaking, the chances were pretty slim. And we realized that when we were asking for those. We still have to ask for those because unfortunately for us for the last almost four years, the situations look like this.

[00:10:03]

We are asking for the weapons that we need to protect ourselves. We are being denied for a year, two years, three years, and at the end finally our partners agree to give those weapons. We have seen the same conversation about the fighter jets. We have seen the same conversation about tanks early on and so on and so forth. So at the end of the day Western partners do realize that that Ukraine needs the weapons, that Ukraine is fighting alone against the second biggest army in the world.

I don't believe there is a single army in the world apart from the U.S. apparently, that would be able to withstand fighting against such a big might. And that is why we need all those weapons. Unfortunately, it takes our partners very long period of time to realize that and to give those weapons to Ukraine. For us, that costs lives of course which are lost. Thousands of lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.

So we hope the conversation on Tomahawks will continue. But it's not just Tomahawks that we need. It's the sheer amount of, you know, different types of weapons that is needed on the front line. It's macro-financial support particularly when we're facing this winter with the potential blackouts. It's also very, very important right now. So unfortunately it's a lot, but there is one thing I want to emphasize. The more Ukraine is given in a particular point of time, the shorter the war will be, and then there will be no need to give any longer.

KINKADE: Yes, well, we wish you all the best, as always, Inna Sovsun from the Ukrainian parliament. Thanks so much for your time.

SOVSUN: Thank you.

KINKADE: President Trump says he believes the U.S. has legal authority to launch strikes in international waters when targeting drug cartels. He also announced to stop all payments and subsidies to Colombia, accusing President Gustavo Petro of, quote, "doing nothing" to stop production of drugs.

The U.S. secretary of defense has announced military strikes in two separate boats in the Eastern Pacific. Officials said two people were killed in the first strike and three in the second. That makes nine known strikes by the U.S. military since the start of September.

In Washington, another day and another failed attempt to pass a Republican bill to temporarily fund the government. Senate Republicans need 60 votes to advance the measure, but so far they cannot pull in enough Democrats to pass it. The Democrats want to preserve certain healthcare subsidies. House Speaker Mike Johnson says they have proposals ready for discussion, but insist that demands included in a bill to fund the government are not appropriate.

President Trump is moving full speed ahead with his plans to build a huge new ballroom at the White House. Bulldozers have already demolished the entire East Wing. The project has sparked outcry and questions over whether the president has the legal authority to tear down sections of the historic executive mansion. Sources say the ballroom is now expected to be much larger than initially planned. And of course, the cost has soared from $200 million to over $300 million, which the president says will be paid for by private donors.

A top U.N. court rebukes Israel. The ruling criticizing the country's blockade of Gaza during the war. We'll have the details on that ruling next. Plus, the gloves come off at the final New York City mayor debate. But there was one issue the candidates did agree on.

Much more coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:18:12]

KINKADE: Welcome back. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to meet with top Israeli officials in the coming hours, in an effort to ensure Israel remains committed to the ceasefire deal. The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is arriving in Jerusalem Thursday and says he's not worried about the deal falling apart. On Wednesday, Vance met with Israeli hostages and families of hostages after earlier meeting with the Israeli prime minister.

Well, the top U.N. court says Israel must help facilitate the delivery of aid in Gaza and ensure the basic needs of Palestinian civilians are met. The court criticized Israel's blockade during the war.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: The United Nations' top court has rebuked Israel's efforts to restrict humanitarian aid into Gaza, and its refusal to work with a key U.N. agency. The International Court of Justice, in a ruling issued on Wednesday, says that Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, must facilitate humanitarian aid there and is obligated to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population are met.

And this ruling not only rebukes that weeks-long blockade, total blockade of aid into Gaza, that we saw Israel impose earlier this year, but also a law that Israel passed effectively banning any cooperation with and the operations of UNRWA, that U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, within Israeli controlled territory. The ICJ, in this ruling, says that Israel must cooperate with the United Nations, including with its agencies, and that UNRWA has not violated its impartiality.

Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA of harboring a slew of Hamas affiliated employees.

[00:20:01]

But the top court from the United Nations here finding no substantial evidence to substantiate those allegations. A U.N. investigation had previously found that nine employees, quote, "may have been involved in the October 7th attacks," but that's out of a total of some 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza.

Now, this ruling from the ICJ is non-binding, but it does carry a lot of legal and political weight, and it could affect how member states interact with Israel in the future, how they choose to respond to any future attempts by Israel to restrict humanitarian aid to Gaza or its work with U.N. agencies.

Israel, for its part, is rejecting this opinion outright, saying that this is a political ruling by this top U.N. court and also making clear that it has no plans to reverse course on its cooperation with UNRWA. It's the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying in a statement that Israel will not cooperate with an organization that is, quote, "infested with terror activities." And they insist that Israel is and will continue to uphold all of its obligations under international law. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, South Korea's new president is preparing to host world leaders at the APEC Summit. What he told CNN about peace on the peninsula and a possible trade deal with Donald Trump. That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:26:08]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

The Trump administration has slapped new sanctions on Russia. They target the country's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, and almost three dozen of their affiliates. The U.S. wants Moscow to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. President Trump says he's canceled an anticipated meeting with Russian President Putin.

The head of the Louvre offered her resignation after Sunday's audacious jewelry theft, but remains in the job after her resignation was rejected by the culture minister. Laurence des Cars has served as the museum's director since 2021 and is the first female to hold that post in the museum's 230-year history. She raised concerns about overcrowding and staffing in a memo to the French Culture minister back in January. Prosecutors estimate the stolen jewels are worth more than $100 million.

New York City residents are protesting the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Several hundred people marched peacefully in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday. Federal agents arrested nine people in a chaotic ICE raid on the city's Chinatown neighborhood a day earlier.

And immigration is the major issue in the New York City mayor's race featuring prominently in the candidates' final debate. Democrat Zohran Mamdani, independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa all rejected the Trump administration's crackdown, but they didn't agree on many issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: We first just heard from the Republican candidate for mayor, and then we heard from Donald Trump's puppet himself, Andrew Cuomo.

ANDREW CUOMO (I), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Zoran is a great actor. He missed his calling.

CURTIS SLIWA (R), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Andrew, you didn't leave. You fled from being impeached by the Democrats in the state legislature. Leave. You fled.

MAMDANI: We just had a former governor say in his own words that the city has been getting screwed by the state. Who was leading the state? It was you.

CUOMO: Governor Hochul.

MAMDANI: You were leading the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the candidates also sparred over who would be best able to deal with President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAMDANI: Donald Trump ran on three promises. He ran on creating the single largest deportation force in American history, he ran on going after his political enemies, and he ran on lowering the cost of living. If he wants to talk to me about the third piece of that agenda, I will always be ready and willing. But if he wants to talk about how to pursue the first and second piece of that agenda at the expense of New Yorkers, I will fight him every single step of the way.

CUOMO: Donald Trump, I believe, wants Mamdani. That is his dream because he will use him politically all across the country, and he will take over New York City. Make no mistake. It will be President Trump and Mayor Trump, and he will come in and take over the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Cuomo's allies have been trying unsuccessfully to get Curtis Sliwa to exit the race, claiming it would boost Cuomo's chances against Mamdani, who is leading in the polls.

Donald Trump leaves next week for the APEC Summit in South Korea. The U.S. president says he expects to make several deals with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. There's also talk of a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

CNN's Will Ripley spoke with South Korea's president about that and much more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nice to meet you, Mr. President. Thank you for doing this.

RIPLEY (Voice-over): Just hours before our interview with South Korea's new president, Lee Jae-myung, North Korea flexed its military muscle with a show of force. The first missile launch since Lee took office. But the biggest test of his five-month-old presidency may come in the days ahead when South Korea welcomes world leaders, including China's Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump, for a high stakes economic summit, APEC being held here for the first time in 20 years. And just maybe a repeat of this, the surprise 2019 meeting at the DMZ with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

[00:30:10]

RIPLEY: Do you believe that a meeting will happen between President Trump and Kim Jong-un?

LEE JAE MYUNG, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If the two leaders of the U.S. and North Korea could suddenly get together, then I believe that is a good thing.

And I also believe that President Trump wants to achieve world peace. That's why I have asked him to take on the role of peacemaker.

RIPLEY (voice-over): And he told Trump he'd be the pacemaker to keep diplomacy alive.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We'll have talks. He'd like to meet with me.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Six years after talks with Kim fell apart with no deal.

RIPLEY: If Marshal Kim is listening to this interview right now, what's your message to him?

LEE (through translator): I would like to say that meeting your counterpart and talking to him would be the first step in resolving many issues.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Perhaps the most pressing issue for President Lee: complicated trade negotiations with the U.S.

RIPLEY: Are you and President Trump going to be able to sign a trade deal while he's here in your country?

LEE (through translator): I believe that is taking some time. And I also believe in the rationality of the United States. And so, I believe that we will be able to reach a rational agreement.

RIPLEY (voice-over): One key sticking point: Trump's demand of $350 billion in upfront investment in exchange for lower import tariffs.

President Lee said that would effectively trigger a financial crisis.

RIPLEY: President Trump has long said that U.S. allies, including South Korea, have been ripping off the United States, and that's why it's now pay day for the U.S.

But there are voices in the United States who say this is tantamount to a mafia shakedown, that it's extortion to be asking close allies to pay up, or else the tariffs are going to get jacked up through the roof. Where do you stand on that issue?

LEE (through translator): I believe that in the end, we will be able to reach a rational result that is acceptable, because we are an alliance, and we both have common sense and rationality.

RIPLEY (voice-over): But Lee knows what the rest of the world knows: with Donald Trump, anything is possible.

Will Ripley, CNN, Seoul. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, still to come, the head of the Louvre raised concerns over security and staffing months ago and admits there are still problems at the museum after thieves made off with crown jewels in a stunning daylight heist. She has offered to resign.

The response from the French government, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:37:23]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

The Louvre Museum in Paris is back open for visitors for the first time since more than $100 million worth of jewelry was stolen in a matter of minutes.

The Apollo Gallery, where the robbery took place, remains closed. CNN's Melissa Bell has more on the fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The director of France's Louvre museum --

BELL (voice-over): -- has been defending herself in front of a Senate committee, explaining that she'd tendered her resignation in the wake of Sunday morning's dramatic heist.

BELL: It had been refused, she said, by the culture minister. Both women are saying -- the culture minister --

BELL (voice-over): -- and the director of the Louvre -- that the security systems function, defending the record.

This in the face of a great deal of criticism and calls for both their resignations. Been questions, of course, about the security breach itself on Sunday morning: how robbers could have got in with such rudimentary tools to what should have been some of the best guarded --

BELL: -- crown jewels in the country.

But there was also a not-yet-published report that has emerged in parts of the French press by France's highest auditing body that was critical specifically of what it described as security lapses in the museum between 2019 and '24.

The lack, for instance, of CCTV cameras in a number of the museum's rooms. So, all of these have been pounced upon by the French press.

In the meantime, the manhunt continues, as does the hunt for the jewels themselves. BELL (voice-over): More than a hundred French investigators are

working on the case. We understand and continue to gather clues. A scooter left behind by the robbers; a glove; a motorcycle helmet; and of course, the truck that was used with its mechanical ladder on it. That is being scoured for any fingerprints, any evidence they can find --

BELL: -- to try and help them track down the robbers. But of course, with every day, every hour that passes, the hopes that that will happen grow slimmer.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: King Charles has arrived in Italy ahead of a historic meeting with Pope Leo.

In just a few hours, Charles will become the first British monarch to publicly pray with the pope since 1534.

As king, Charles is head of the Church of England, which of course, split from the Catholic Church in the late 16th Century.

While the two are broadly aligned, this represents a clear sign of improving relations between the two denominations.

Well, finally, a dream come true. That's the reaction from this year's winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition.

American Eric Liu won the prestigious prize at what has been dubbed the Olympics for classical music, with his rendition of Frederic Chopin's "Polonaise-Fantasy." Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: CHOPIN'S "POLONAISE-FANTASY")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40:12]

KINKADE: So much talent.

Eric Liu is the first American to win the top award in 55 years. The competition began in 1927, but special celebrations for its 100th anniversary are underway.

The three-week competition takes place in Warsaw once every five years.

Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Great to have your company. WORLD SPORT is up next, and I'll be back with your headlines in about 20 minutes.

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(WORLD SPORT)